Happy Imbolc!

Today marks the official start of spring according to my druid/celtic ancestors.

I don't know about you but I've certainly noticed the recent changing sunrise and sunset times. Actually, I've always been attuned to the delight that is inherent in spring.  When I was a child/young adult I attributed that to the fact that I am a spring baby.  Then, after being newly pregnant throughout one spring, I remembered the anticipation I had and the delight of creating life.

And now, I realize that there is actually scientific reasons for this delight.  Vitamin D to be more precise.  The increase in sunlight causes an increase in Vitamin D and voila - more energy!  I regard this magnificent exchange between our Sun and our bodies to be quite delightful.  And besides that, you never hear someone say they are depressed and bursting with energy now do you?

I look forward to new possibilities this spring.  I had the good fortune to run into a fellow explorer yesterday that I hadn't seen in a few years.  She and I exchanged so many ideas over the course of a few hours that I feel today that my brain is like a fully stocked seed storage vessel.  I now feel like I have a vast new array of new things to explore.  Meeting up with her, a sympatico explorer, solidified my recent realizations about freedom and I feel blessed that I can pick and choose which ideas to pluck out and to grow in the future.

One fresh idea I learned from her coincides nicely with the first day of spring.  It is called various names but I especially like Chi Farming.  My fellow explorer friend is of Chinese heritage and I love that her idea, delivered to me yesterday,  brings a sort of unity of our two cultures on today, February 1st, the ancient Irish first day of spring.  A day traditionally set aside to officially start preparations for the new season of growing.  The notable increase in light available for longer days outdoors made this day a good marking point.  If we reclaim this day we can also use it as a day to be mindful in our gardening preparations in order to maximize the fruits of the life force provided by our earth, sun, and moon.

So, this year I am eager to join in the preparations for spring that were first honoured formally on this date by my ancestors.  I am going through my seeds and making plans for my small urban garden.  I am also thankful that my explorations have allowed me to feel the resonance of new ideas such as that of the chi farming concept.  I am especially hopeful this year since I consistently have started feeling that life is coming together more often than falling apart. My own Chi is realigning.

Ballycrovane Standing Stone:  A Sacred space on the extreme west of Ireland,
Beara Peninsula, Cork - where my maternal family comes from.

Farmers Feed Cities (and make music?)

I volunteered for Sustain Ontario's City to Country tour yesterday.

I had the privilege of being taken to three different farms and learning quite a lot about supply management issues in the farming industry (pdf link) here in Ontario, Canada.  I also got quite a bit of fresh air and lots of wonderful conversation.






There were fourteen of us on the bus and on our way back to the starting point people remarked on the fact that they had never been to a dairy or egg farm before.  I myself have been to a number of farms from my days living in Waterloo and involvement in the food movement there but never had I been to an egg farm.  In fact, the only reason any of us were allowed to go to the egg farm was because the farm was converting from a 50,000 battery caged hen operation to a 8000 cage free hen research centre.  The public is not allowed to visit working egg farms due to ministry regulations.

The cage free egg research farm was not yet up and running because it was in the midst of conversion so we got to poke around in all the areas and see the old set up (six layers of tiny cages that held seven hens each) and the work in progress of the new set up (large indoor areas where @ 1000 hens will roam free and have access to large outdoor protected areas).

I don't think the images and smells of the defunct battery cage operation will leave me anytime soon.  Nor the thought that the egg production and supply management system in Ontario is flawed and unless  consumers demand cage free operations (from their politicians!) it will not change anytime soon.

After visiting the 'haunted' battery cages we then  luckily got to see free range hens at Coopers CSA.  As we approached the outside mobile hen pen I was struck by the musicality of the birds.  The sounds were so soothing....I tried to capture it with a short video:

Raising chickens in my backyard has been my dream for awhile (much to the amusement of my friends and the dismay of my teenager).  Legally.

Yesterday's excursion reminded me how fulfilling it is to be close to our food and how I long to immerse myself full time in this and be able to pay my bills at the same time.